Abingdon School Boat Club - Abingdon-on-Thames | UK Rowing Clubs | Row HQ

Abingdon School Boat Club rows on the River Thames from the school boathouse on Wilsham Road, about a mile from the main school. Training takes place at the boathouse and in the school gym, and the current programme involves more than 150 pupils.

The first documentary evidence of rowing at the school is a headmaster's diary from 1830, which mentions two crews and racing. The club moved to a larger Thames boathouse in 1881; a further boathouse was built by pupils in 1914, then dismantled and moved to the present Wilsham Road site in 1953.

The programme fields crews from J14 through to J18. The first eight competes at Henley Royal Regatta, while the wider club races at events including the Schools' Head and National Schools' Regatta. In 2023, Abingdon sent 11 crews to National Schools and both its J15 first and second eights won bronze.

The first eight won the Schools' Head, Championship Eights at National Schools and the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley Royal Regatta in 2002. The school recorded another National Schools win and a third consecutive Princess Elizabeth Cup victory in 2013.

Old Abingdonian rowers include Olympic and world champions. The school named Tom Digby, an Olympic and world champion, among the former pupils developed by the club; in 2026 four current Abingdon athletes and a club coach were selected for Great Britain's J16 coxed four against France.

The club also holds an annual Boat Club dinner that brings together current members, former pupils and guests to celebrate the programme and hear from former Abingdon and Great Britain rowers.